While your participation in student government is certainly meaningful, it’s also an activity college admissions committees see on applications regularly. (In the current Common Application, the Education section also includes Grades, Courses, and Honors. Deciding when to apply: Early vs regular decision . Be as specific as possible here. 2.Create an account. Telling your story. Are you a leader? We'll send you information to help you throughout the college admissions process. The Common Application, as well as many individual college applications, provides room for students to list out extracurricular activities. Our first piece of advice is to start a running log (on a google document and a saved word file) of all of your extracurricular activities starting freshman year. Unique activities that demonstrate your potential and the interesting aspects of your personality and talents will help you stand out and give you a “hook” — an edge in the admissions process. Creating a first year Common App account is easy and should only take a few minutes. Many students who apply to these schools have top GPAs and test scores, so extracurricular activities are one of the best ways to differentiate yourself from the rest of the applicant pool and make yourself stand out as an exceptional candidate. Here’s how to fill out the Common App Activities section for maximum impact. Please describe this activity, including what you accomplished and any recognition you received, etc. Additional Suggestions 1. If you’re looking for individualized help with your college essay or another area of your application, Admissions essays. You can also simply edit the activity to reflect a different one. What should you include? For the Common App Activities section in particular, check for: Consistency of language and style; Repetitive words and phrasing; Extraneous words; Layout (Is everything in order of importance? If you absolutely need more room to thoroughly explain truly important details about the activity, use the additional information section to expand, or describe it in more detail in your essay if it relates to the topic you choose. Read our guide on How to Write the Common App Essays. College applicants are infamously known to stress about their essays. Last revised 01/05/21. Don’t sell yourself short, either. So by answering “yes” to this question, you are merely indicating that you are interested in continuing the activity. The Activities section of the Common App only gives you 150 characters to describe each activity. This is the currently selected item. Article Content. And it’s not uncommon for students to spend weeks (if not months) brainstorming their ideal essay topic and then editing it down to perfection. Take a breath and dig in. Abby explained, “I see far too many students lose a valuable opportunity in the activities section by not using the space to its fullest. If you need to add more activities, use the additional information section or your essay if you choose a relevant topic. Information. Put your name and social security number at the top of each page. Receiving an admissions decision: Admit, deny, or waitlist. You don’t even need to use full sentences, but you do need to use action verbs to demonstrate what you did, not just what you were. You are limited to 150 characters for details, accomplishments, honors won, and accomplishments within each activity, so you will need to be concise and offer only the most pertinent details. The Activities section isn't the only place to show your passion and where you excel! Test Information. Much of the Common Application is common. If your activity was volunteer work, for example, you might describe the type of service provided; or if it was a job, describe the type of work you typically performed. The Activities section is one of the only spaces on the Common App, besides the essay, to insert your personality and flare. Description: Provided homework and study help to underprivileged kids. Here's a sample Common App activities list. Whether your student is working on their essays or sharing about their extracurricular interests, these resources are here to help. While college is certainly a place to explore new interests, admissions committees want to see that you have an idea of the kinds of activities about which you are curious and at which might excel, so that college will nurture these talents and push you to succeed further. The application will ask you in which grade levels you participated in a particular activity. For instance, someone who participated in her school newspaper as a reporter for two years and became editor should list “editor.”. You will also have the chance to share any academic honors or achievements from high school. College application checklist. You may not know exactly, but your rough estimation will suffice — nobody expects you to go in with a stopwatch. Receiving an admissions decision: Admit, deny, or waitlist. 2.Create an account. Sample resume templates from our resume builder - create your resume here . Use the different features of the application to highlight what makes you unique. Because of this, the activities section of the Common App is very important. Now, the details: The main application consists of six main sections — Profile, Family, Education, Testing, Activities, Writing. This is a chance to concisely and concretely set yourself apart from your … Here's a sample Common App activities list. She lives in Brooklyn, New York and works as a freelance writer specializing in education. None of the Trademark holders are affiliated with Princeton College Consulting, LLC. You can also search for schools based on preferences like location, major, cost, and more. Watching the news with my parents one night, I heard a story about Japan, which included an … The key is as follows: If you participated in an activity over the summer between grade levels, choose the rising or later grade level (e.g., the summer between 10th and 11th grades should be listed as “11th grade”). These are frequent and valid questions. How Do You Calculate it? ). Not only does doing so allow you to include more extracurricular activities, but also provides more space for you to expand on the descriptions of your activities since you are not limited to a certain number of characters. Filling out the college application: Common application walkthrough. Remember, they are looking for a diverse student body filled with future leaders in respective their fields. Below are a number of links that provide examples of Common App essays. Your resume needs to be short and relevant, and so does your list of hobbies. These are frequent and valid questions. Next lesson. Back then AP scores weren't part of this section, but I'll take them from another part of my application here. College application checklist. If it has a name, say it, and define what it is if that is unclear. The Common Application offers a drop-down menu with the following activities from which to select: For each activity you include on your application, choose the appropriate category. They are different from chores in that you are meeting an important need for your family as opposed to simply lending a hand. To do this, start each line with an action verb (rather than “I”), using the present tense if it is something that you’re still participating in (e.g., “lead”) and the past tense if you are no longer involved (e.g., “led”). Students should spend time filling out this important part of the application. Essay Example #1 - Japanese Puzzle. Just like Like when writing a resume, you can use “incomplete sentences” in your activity list descriptions to maximize the amount of information you’re able to fit. Join thousands of students and parents getting exclusive high school, test prep, and college admissions information. While some parts of your college application are fairly cut-and-dry, the Common App activities section —while it initially appears to be simple— is not one of them. If you’re uncertain, we’ve got your answers. Or perhaps you just don’t want to continue it. Remember that almost anything that you are actively and productively involved in can be considered an extracurricular activity. Creating a first year Common App account is easy and should only take a few minutes. The Common App activities list and honors section have a character allowance lower than that of a Tweet! HEY GUYS! You will be able to report more activities this way if that is a concern for you. For instance, if you are the president of the tutoring club at your school, you don’t need to list “tutoring” in the description, since colleges are likely to consider that a given; instead, emphasize your duties as president, how you manage and distribute tasks and how you work with club members. If you are a leader in the activity, mention how many members the group has, how many people you serve (if applicable), how many people your work affected, and so on. Both categories indicate that you are a driven leader, but they present different facets of your personality. Choose your registration type. Get started at any time. Filling out the Common App is hard. If the activity fits into two equally specific categories, choose the more relevant one. Our chancing engine factors in extracurricular activities, demographic, and other holistic details. Common App Activities Section Examples. The Common Application offers a drop-down menu with the following activities from which to select: Academic; Art; Athletics: Club; Athletics: JV/Varsity; Career-Oriented; Community Service (Volunteer) Computer/Technology; Cultural; Dance; Debate/Speech; Environmental For example, entity is now table and field is now column. Have you developed strong interests over time? Do you have to fill in every slot? . The question will often ask something straight-forward like this: "Briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences." In this case, unless the position and organization names are fairly self-explanatory or very recognizable, you will need to be a bit more specific in your description. Family responsibilities come in many forms and can be permanent or temporary. Deciding when to apply: Early vs regular decision . Perhaps you placed in the National Robotics Challenge or have publications in a teen literary magazine to your name. Applying to the right number of colleges. For comparison, MIT, one of the most selective institutions in the country, has just 4 slots on their own application for extracurriculars! On the Common App, you have ten available activity slots to fill, but this does not mean you have to use all of them. We’ll let you know what your chances are at your dream schools — and how to improve your chances! Is your profile strong enough to impress admissions officers? Focus on quality, not quantity. Students should spend time filling out this important part of the application. Fill out the real Common App Your activities should give you a cohesive narrative and paint a picture of what kind of person you are and your goals in life. 4. The question will often ask something straight-forward like this: "Briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences." Get started at any time. Also, make sure you’re emphasizing your accomplishments, not just describing the activity itself. If you played tennis all four years of high school and became captain of your school team senior year, that is an activity to include in this section. Essentially, the activities you invested in over time, put a great deal of effort into, demonstrated leadership or achievement (there are a lot of ways to do this), and/or have had an impact on you. Coded vr environments for various software prototypes some of which were featured. Don’t worry that colleges will see the brevity of your involvement as a negative factor if this is the case; they understand that some activities simply have an imposed beginning and ending that are not within your control. Reporting Honors and Awards in the Common App, The Common App, Analyzed: 5 Successful Activity Entries Explained, Your Comprehensive Guide to Extracurriculars, The 6 Things You Should Do the Summer Before Senior Year. 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